The John Batchelor Show

Friday 13 May 2016

Air Date: 
May 13, 2016

Photo, left: 
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 1, Block A: Liz Peek, Fiscal Time and Fox, in re: The push-back to Trump from the conservative wing of the GOP is part ideological, part snobbery and part plain old peeve. The National Review went all out last January, devoting an entire issue to demolishing Trump, and set back the billionaire…not at all. The editors of the journal wrote that Trump is a “philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones.”
Here’s the problem: there is no “conservative ideological consensus” within the GOP or anywhere else, for that matter. That’s why Republicans have never nominated a staunch conservative to carry the GOP banner, and never will. Far-right candidates like Rick Santorum or Mike Huckabee always make a solid showing in states like Iowa or South Carolina, but they cannot make it to the finish line. Ted Cruz went farther than most, but only because he became the vehicle by which many hoped to derail the Trump train. On social issues like same-sex marriage and abortion, in particular, Trump is more in sync with American voters than Ted Cruz.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2016/05/11/Here-s-Why-Clinton-Will-Lose-Election-Donald-Trump  ;  http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/05/11/yes-donald-trump-offends-some-conservatives-heres-my-advice-for-them.html
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 1, Block B:  John Fund, NRO, in re:  O'Brien and Trump (from the man who’s seen Trump's 2005 taxes)  chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/c… pic.twitter.com/hlvr5zQ0aR ;
https://twitter.com/batchelorshow/status/730992447677976576  ;  https://www.yahoo.com/gma/donald-trump-refuses-reveal-tax-rate-none-business-113802212--abc-news-topstories.html
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 1, Block C:  Michael Balter, The Verge, in re:  http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/12/11659036/american-museum-of-natural-history-sexual-harassment-investigation  (1 of 2)
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 1, Block D:  Michael Balter, The Verge, in re:  http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/12/11659036/american-museum-of-natural-history-sexual-harassment-investigation  (2 of 2)
 
Hour Two
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:  Michael E Vlahos, Johns Hopkins, in re: Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of the southern city of Davao, has secured victory in the Philippine presidential election. He will officially assume office at the end of June when outgoing President Benigno Aquino III completes his six-year term.
Among the candidates Duterte defeated in the election were the vice president and a former interior secretary, who was Aquino's preferred successor and had been supported by business circles.
The Aquino administration pushed ahead with fiscal reform, created a favorable investment environment and achieved annual economic growth of about 6 percent. These accomplishments are held in high regard internationally. However, dissatisfaction among the people about issues affecting their daily lives, such as widening income disparities, public security and traffic congestion, has likely enabled the outsider candidate Duterte to win the presidency.
Duterte started out as a prosecutor and was mayor of Davao - on either side of a stint as a congressman and other positions - for more than 20 years. He used heavy-handed methods to improve safety in Davao, which had been regarded as the most dangerous city in the Philippines. During the election campaign, Duterte pledged to eradicate crime, starting with corruption.    http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-wp-yomiuri-editorial-philippines-84fdf56a-1845-11e6-aa55-670cabef46e0-20160512-story.html
A new Pentagon report says China has reclaimed more than 3,200 acres of land in the south-eastern South China Sea. But the country’s focus has shifted to developing and weaponizing those man-made islands so it will have greater control over the maritime region without resorting to armed conflict.
In its most detailed assessment to date of China’s island-building program, the defense department said three of the land features in the Spratly Islands now have nearly 10,000ft runways and large ports in various stages of construction.
And it has excavated deep channels, created and dredged harbors, and constructed communications, logistics and intelligence gathering facilities.
The report argues that the accelerated building effort doesn’t give China any new territorial rights. But it says the airfields, ship facilities, surveillance and weapons equipment will allow China to significantly enhance its long-term presence in the South China Sea.  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/13/pentagon-report-china-reclaimed-3200-acres-south-china-sea  ;  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/front-runner-in-philippine-election-could-be-a-wild-card-for-u-s/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/10/asia-pacific/politics-diplom...
https://audioboom.com/boos/4554380-us-navy-confronts-china-gordongchang-...
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/critical-american-ally-struggling-chinas-south-china-sea-16165  ;  http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-05/12/c_135354321.htm  (1 of 2)
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 2, Block B:   Michael E Vlahos, Johns Hopkins (2 of 2)
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 2, Block C:   Gene Marks, Washington Post, in re:    Hopes of factory jobs rebound fade in U.S. heartland http://news.yahoo.com/hopes-factory-jobs-rebound-fade-u-heartland-142513176--business.html
Why Are Retailers Still Stuck in 1976?   http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/05/10/why-is-retail-still-stuck-in-1976.html
Macy's Reignites Retail Worries   http://www.wsj.com/articles/macys-pares-its-forecasts-1462969883?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f
Signs of a bubble bursting?   Dropbox cut a bunch of perks and told employees to save more as Silicon Valley startups brace for the cold
http://www.businessinsider.com/cost-cutting-at-dropbox-and-silicon-valley-startups-2016-5
The Future  
Will blockchain drive the fourth Industrial Revolution?
http://readwrite.com/2016/05/09/blockhain-new-ir/
How to Hire a Millennial   http://www.inc.com/gene-marks/how-to-hire-a-millennial.html
Paid parental leave is actually great for business   http://qz.com/679464/paid-parental-leave-is-actually-great-for-business/
US Congress 'bans Members' Yahoo Mail'  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36275537
Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm-boost has rolled out  http://searchengineland.com/googles-mobile-friendly-algorithm-boost-rolled-249357
Your Instagram App Just Got a Big Makeover  http://www.wired.com/2016/05/might-not-recognize-instagram-app-today/
Walmart is Suing Visa for Potentially Making You Vulnerable to Fraud   http://www.inc.com/joseph-steinberg/walmart-is-suing-visa-for-this-security-weakness-that-you-use-every-day.html
National Intelligence Director Warns IoT Could Hurt More than Help   http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2016/05/national-intelligence-director-warns-iot-could-hurt-more-help
Google to ban ads for payday loans and other lending products from July 13 (Paul Sawers/VentureBeat)   http://venturebeat.com/2016/05/11/google-to-ban-ads-for-payday-loans-and-other-lending-products-from-july-13/
Uber Is Doing Something Halfway Decent for Its Drivers  http://gizmodo.com/uber-agreement-will-let-new-york-city-drivers-be-repres-1775789767
Dating site pairs Americans fleeing a possible Trump presidency with single Canadians
http://mashable.com/2016/05/10/america-canada-trump-dating-site/
Customer support via SMS is about to get a lot easier, courtesy of Zendesk   http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/ru-nearby-m8/
Amazon Is Going to Battle with YouTube  http://time.com/4324828/amazon-video-youtube-google/
Senate GOP Launches Inquiry into Facebook’s News Curation  http://gizmodo.com/senate-gop-launches-inquiry-into-facebook-s-news-curati-1775767018
PayPal to Drop Purchase Protection for Crowdfunding Projects  https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275430
Periscope Now Saves Broadcasts—and Streams from Your Drone  http://www.wired.com/2016/05/periscope-now-saves-broadcasts-streams-drone/
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 2, Block D:  Gene Marks, Washington Post (2 of 2)
 
Hour Three
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 3, Block A:  Loren Cohen, Harvard Business Review, in re:  The growing problem of patent trolling, by Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun, Scott Duke Kominers.  The last decade has seen a sharp rise in patent litigation in the United States; 2015 has one of the highest patent lawsuit counts on record. In theory, this could reflect growth in commercialization of technology and innovation—lawsuits increase as more firms turn to intellectual property (IP) protection to safeguard their competitive advantages. However, the majority of recent patent litigation is driven by nonpracticing entities (NPEs), firms that generate no products but amass patent portfolios for the sake of “enforcing” IP rights. We discuss new, large-sample evidence adding to a growing literature that suggests that NPEs—in particular, large patent aggregators—on average, act as “patent trolls,” suing cash-rich firms seemingly irrespective of actual patent infringement. This has a negative impact on innovation activity at targeted firms. These results suggest a need to change U.S. IP policy, particularly to screen out trolling early in the litigation process.  http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6285/521  (1 of 2)
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 3, Block B:   Loren Cohen, Harvard Business Review, in re:  The growing problem of patent trolling, by Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun, Scott Duke Kominers.  (2 of 2)
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 3, Block C: Jonah Bromwich, New York Times, in re: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/science/moist-word-aversion.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 3, Block D: Hotel Mars, episode n. David Livingston, The Space Show, and Daniel R Adamo, SpaceEntrpriseInstitute.org, in re: landing a Dragon on Mars, and the recent first-stage landing of the Falcon 9 on the barge for the second time. http://www.TheSpaceShow.com <http://www.thespaceshow.com/> http://www.davidlivingston.com <http://www.davidlivingston.com/> dlivings@davidlivingston.com; drspace@thespaceshow.com
Daniel R. Adamo is a recognized authority in human space flight trajectory design and operations with extensive experience in associated operations concept formulation, training, documentation, and software development.  Since retiring in 2008 from 29 years of employment as a NASA-Johnson Space Center (JSC) contractor, Dan has been engaged in full-time astrodynamics research, consulting, and outreach.  Clients include NASA, the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS).
Prior to his retirement as a JSC contractor employee, Dan developed real time Shuttle Mission Simulator dynamics software, managed the Shuttle Portable Computer’s post-Challenger return to flight operations, and supported 60 Space Shuttle missions from the Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) console at Mission Control.  During his FDO career, Dan served as Flight Lead for 10 Shuttle missions, as primary U.S. trajectory point-of-contact with Russian counterparts during Shuttle-Mir and International Space Station joint operations, and as editor and a major contributing author of the 1000-page Orbit FDO Console Handbook for 18 years.
 
Hour Four
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World, by Tim Whitmarsh   (1 of 4)
 “A seminal work . . . to be studied, reread, and referenced . . . With a nonprofessorial, relaxed style . . . Whitmarsh delves deeply into the many philosophers who felt gods were invented by humans or saw laws, in addition to religion, as merely imposition of order . . . The author’s erudition is impressive.”—Kirkus (starred review)
Battling the Gods is a timely and wonderfully lively reminder that atheism is as old as belief.  Skepticism, Whitmarsh shows, did not slowly emerge from a fog of piety and credulity.  It was there, fully formed and spoiling for a fight, in the bracing, combative air of ancient Athens.  That the fight was never decisively won -- or lost -- only makes its history, as this book shows, all the more gripping.” —Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
"If you have ever wondered about premature skeptics who questioned beliefs held sacrosanct in their own time--such as religion or slavery in the ancient world--this is the book for you. In plain English, classics scholar Tim Whitmarsh explores the minds of those who doubted the existence of gods more than 2500 years ago and got into trouble because of their doubts. It is a pure delight to be introduced to people who questioned the supernatural long before modern science provided physical evidence to support the greatest insights of human reason." —Susan Jacoby, author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
“In the face of many crude modern discussions of atheism (both pro and anti), it's great to have Tim Whitmarsh's sophisticated exploration of various versions of ancient disbelief. It brilliantly opens up all kinds of issues, from the roots of religious conflict and the alliance of religion and politics to (some) virtues of old-fashioned polytheism.”—Mary Beard, author of Confronting the Classics: Traditions, Adventures, and Innovations
“Erudite and sweeping, graceful and entertaining, Battling the Gods relates the fascinating history of atheism in Greco-Roman antiquity, setting contemporary debates about religion and secularism in much needed context.—Danielle Allen, author of Why Plato Wrote
http://www.amazon.com/Battling-Gods-Atheism-Ancient-World/dp/0307958329/...
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 4, Block B: Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World, by Tim Whitmarsh (2 of 4)
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 4, Block C: Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World, by Tim Whitmarsh  (3 of 4)
Friday  13 May 2016 / Hour 4, Block D: Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World, by Tim Whitmarsh   (4 of 4)
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